Foreign Students Who Did Not Fully Serve Out Bonds after Receiving Tuition Fee Grants or Scholarships

Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Education (a) how many foreign students did not fully serve out their bonds after receiving tuition fee grants or scholarships in each of the last 10 years; (b) how many are considered to have defaulted; and (c) how many are exempted from fulfilling the bond requirements without penalty.

The proportion of defaulters has been about 4% over the past decade. We have only approved exemptions for a very small number of cases, as they were unable to serve their bonds due to very serious medical conditions or death. The rest are serving or have served their bonds, and some have applied for deferment for their postgraduate studies.